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A High-Energy Morning
The current book project lit me up this morning. I am always engaged when I’m recording, but it’s extra fun when I get carried away. The last time I remember being this passionate was at the end of the Kit Carson biography, which I had to retake six times because I kept choking up.
Building a House Divided will be published in September, and if I can keep on schedule, the audiobook will hit about the same time. It is a beautifully written and well-researched look at just what role slavery played in the United States, and how the actions of four men, Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Senator Stephen A. Douglas, led to the Civil War. As opposed to the blatant propaganda of most of the current conversation about systemic racism, it’s a powerful statement of historical fact.
This morning, I was narrating the chapter on the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The hour flew by, and I was sorry when it was time to quit and go to my day job. I may have to tinker with the editing or do some more retakes…I think I was reading too fast. We’ll see. But this is the sort of book that makes what I do in the studio feel worthwhile, even important. When it comes out, I will plug the heck out of it whenever I can, and not feel guilty about it. It’s more than selling books. It’s telling the truth about the country I love.
Apologies for the less-than-profound post, but I wanted to share the experience with friends who will understand. I’m not cross-posting this to Facebook. Ricochet is special. Y’all mean a lot to me.
Published in General
As do you to us, Douglas.
Well done. Even this introduction sounds eager and enthusiastic. What grrrreat commentary! Another timely book to look forward to.
Sounds like a fascinating read, Doug! Thanks!
Keep us posted!
Sounds like a great book. I look forward to it coming out and may be forced to come out of retirement so I can listen to the audio book during my commute.
Have you come across ” Crisis of the House Never United” by Chuck DeVore? I have just started it and wish I knew more about the period of our country it is about.
It is historical fiction based on the Constitutional Convention (referred to as the country’s first insurrection) never being ratified and the loose confederation of states continuing.
I have said it before, but you have a great gig going.
I can’t wait to listen. Although, my trips Downeast are finally growing short.
This sounds like a fascinating book. I’m struggling to come up with a hypothesis that would place particular fault on the four men listed — Jefferson, Jackson, Polk, and Douglas.
My view on the Civil War progressed in recent years to attributing the conflict to the political imbalance that eventually developed in favor of the North. Throughout most of the period before the Civil War, the admission of states maintained the balance. At the admission of Wisconsin as the 30th state, the balance was even, 15-15, but there was almost no room left for the expansion of the slave states.
This was part of the problem behind “Bleeding Kansas.”
The 1850s saw the breakdown of this balance, with the admission of three free states and no slave states:
In hindsight, it may have been a mistake to have admitted Texas as a single, huge state. Admitting portions of Texas over time, as slave states, might have provided room to continue to balance the interests of North and South.
It’s hard for me to decide whether it would have been better to have avoided the Civil War. It was bloody and costly, but it did resolve the issue of slavery. It is possible, though, that the issue might have been resolved peacefully later. I understand that this happened in Brazil, though I don’t know much about the details of Brazilian emancipation. The British ended slavery (mostly) in the 1830s-40s with compensation to the slaveowners, though I think that this was quite a bit easier for the British because they didn’t have slavery in the British Isles themselves, but only in colonies.
In any event, Douglas, please give us an update when the audiobook is published. I’d like to listen.
Sounds promising!
I’m honored to hear you’ve started reading my newest book. Perhaps you’ll consider reviewing it on Ricochet when finished. I’d post it to the book’s Amazon page.
How did you hear about it?
Lastly, as with Douglas, I’ve recorded my book as well, but it’s still in production and I’ll likely have to do some retakes.
All the best,
Chuck DeVore
Dripping Springs, Texas